Field
This disclosure is generally related to a system for promoting health and/or wellness. More specifically, this disclosure is related to a general platform that allows any provider to define a health/wellness program as a hosted service.
Related Art
Skyrocketing healthcare costs have prompted everyone, including government, private corporations, insurance companies, etc., to search for solutions that can lower these costs. Studies have shown that 50% of healthcare costs are attributed to lifestyle choices and can be mitigated by adoption of healthy lifestyles. For example, some common diseases, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, may be prevented or controlled by changing lifestyles. Various types of programs can be used to promote healthy lifestyles or to improve general personal health, including diet plans, exercise plans, and mobile apps that track health-related data in a person's daily life.
However, most of these programs suffer from key limitations that include creation cost, selection difficulties, and lack of ways to improve user stickiness. First, a provider that wishes to offer its customers or employees programs that promote health and/or wellness may find that the cost associated with creating and implementing particular programs that are customized to suit the needs of a particular demographic group can be high. For example, it may cost millions to develop and test a customized app for a single lifestyle intervention scheme, such as an app that can help people to control irregular blood pressure. Second, a consumer may be overwhelmed by a large array of programs that are available and find it difficult to select a program that can best suit his needs. Moreover, the effectiveness of these health/wellness programs depends on how well their users stick with the program. Most programs lack mechanisms that can effectively enhance the likelihood of the user sticking with the program. In general, based on most studies, over 50% of health/wellness program users drop out of the program after a mere three-and-a-half weeks.